


Come back to get me

by thelotuseaters



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Feelings Realization, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:14:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelotuseaters/pseuds/thelotuseaters
Summary: Layton was sure Melanie Cavill was guilty of many thingsor the moment Layton realizes he's in love with Melanie and there's nothing he can do about it.
Relationships: Melanie Cavill/Andre Layton
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Come back to get me

**Author's Note:**

> \- I wrote this in like 20 minutes and didn't get a beta so I must apologize in advance for any typos or sentences that don't make any sense.
> 
> \- I don't really ship Layton and Melanie but I think that one of them having complicated (romantic) feelings for the other is an interesting plot.
> 
> \- I hope y'all enjoy it!

Layton was sure Melanie Cavill was guilty of many things.

That's one of the reasons why he disliked her. Right, they had to work together to keep balance, balance of the train. Everything they did, everything _he_ did was for Snowpiercer. But working together never meant liking each other, the only thing Layton acknowledged was Melanie's important role, how essential she was to keep them on track. Literally on track, since the woman was in charge of keeping the train going.

What would they do without Melanie? He often wondered. Layton thought he would probably be dead, which wasn't a totally bad thing. But without Melanie, he thought again, Josie wouldn't be in an infirmary bed. She would be with him, with Miles. Josie would see that all the sacrifices were worth it, that they finally made it. She would be happy. But Melanie took that away from her, took that away from them. Layton knew he didn't hate her, but he would never forgive her either.

Forgiveness was a lost word on Snowpiercer.

People survived and now they had to live together, there was no other choice. Forgiveness was a word, a sentiment from the past. Part of that old world where they used to live, now there was only survival and Melanie Cavill was, in his eyes, nothing but the concept of survival.

There was also Zarah, the mother of his child, the woman he used to love. But he didn't forgive her either, for what she did to Josie, for leaving him, betraying him for small things. Still, Layton had Zarah as his soulmate, that's what he felt about her even all those years later. As for Josie, he had her as the love of his life, someone who had been with him for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. Now there's one more to go, and that's Melanie.

"Layton", she calls for him, asking for his opinion.

"You've seen too much", she said before poisoning him.

As soon as Layton's brain started functioning again, the very first thing in his mind was how he hated Melanie Cavill. He wanted to kill her, make her pay for everything she did to him, to everyone. And he tried. But Snowpiercer needed her as much as it needed him. He had to give up, he had to give her a chance, the same woman who left Josie to die in the cold. It was hard to understand, mostly in the beginning of it all, for Melanie was hard to understand.

"Come back to get me", she said, looking into his eyes.

She trusted him.

He, somehow, trusted her back.

Melanie was the most complex person Layton had ever met. She was easy to listen, easy to follow, but difficult to read. The first night after they left seven cars behind and many souls to die, Layton thought of Melanie Cavill as his partner. Something completely different from soulmates and the love of your life, something, perhaps, way stronger.

Partnership begins with similarities, and the moment Andre Layton realized they were the same, he wanted the train to stop for him. He wanted to feel the real cold against his skin, he wanted the pain. Layton understood that if he wanted to save lives, he had to kill lives. Melanie knew and now he knew, and he wondered if it was being as painful to her as it was being to him. They were partners after all.

And now Snowpiercer and Big Alice were together with one purpose, sending Melanie to her month-long mission out there. Layton, Wilford, even Alexandra, they all knew she was the only who could do this and come back alive.

_She will come back, won't she?_

Layton thought while he stared at the nearest wall, with Melanie right beside him, checking if everything was in order with her suit. Layton heard Ben asking her a bunch of questions that he couldn't quite understand, they all sounded like echoes in the back of his mind. Wilford and his crew, including Alexandra, were there too; Ruth was watching everything from the corner, with Audrey right by her side. Everyone had something to say, mostly concerns that seemed useless, since Melanie knew the risks and knew what she had to do.

Layton was the only one who was quiet.

"Layton", but Melanie's voice brought him back from his thoughts.

"Yeah?", he said, still a little bit lost.

"Promise me", her voice was quiet, she didn't want anyone else to hear them. "I want to see my daughter again", she looked at him with tenderness, mixed with a little bit of hope.

"I promise", he whispered back.

She nodded mutely to him in response, after showing a shy and quick smirk that quickly vanished in the cold air. Melanie, then, adjusted her suit one more time, shared a long and fearful look with her daughter and left. She was gone, she was officially out of the train. Layton looked around and noticed that everyone seemed nervous, but he was certain he was the only one losing his breath. One month to go, suddenly one month felt like an eternity.

_She will be back. She must come back._

Layton kept repeating these words to himself in order to start believing in them. What would they do without Melanie Cavill? The question came back to haunt him, it was a monster he had to gather the courage to face. But there was something else coming with the reality of being without her, something deeper and bittersweet.

The realization made Layton blink once, then twice, and forget about his surroundings again. Suddenly, he was all alone, back in one of those rooms from the Night Car. He heard the sound of rain, the calm sound of drops of water falling from the sky. He was hallucinating, he knew it. In his vision, Melanie was there too, sitting right in front of him as he watched her from the corner.

"I miss the sound of rain", she said and turned to look at him. He thought she was beautiful, wearing a jacket that didn't belong to her and shoes that didn't fit her well. Still, she was beautiful.

"Why are you here?", he asked, confused and dizzy. Melanie was there, but she was blurred like an image from an old dream.

She stood up to face him, but maintained her distance.

"In your head you mean? Because I'm always with you, Layton", she smiled. "They all leave, but I'm always here."

"Why?", he almost shouted. He wanted to ask her to get out of his head, but his mouth didn't move.

"That's what partners are for", she said and disappeared. Layton called for her a few times, but it was useless. It was time for him to wake up.

He did.

And realized he was in love with the woman he disliked. A woman who wasn't in love with him back. He was in love with Melanie Cavill.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and suggestions are always appreciated!


End file.
